The Years that Passed
by rcolley1993
Summary: Elizabeth Taylor, 14, never knew about the magical world. Until, one day she got a letter.
1. Discovering Her Heritage

**The Years that Passed **

Elizabeth Taylor was never told about the magical world of witchcraft and wizardry when she was growing up. Her parents didn't trust the magical community at all with the regards of protecting their daughter. You see, Elizabeth Taylor was 14 years old and, unknown to her, she was a witch. Her parents were muggles and even though they did not discriminate against the magical community they had heard terrible goings-on at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. First off, one of the teachers turned out to have You-Know-Who attached to the back of his head, the second was that there had been a basilisk using the piping system to move around the school and petrify all the muggle borns in the school and to top it all off the beast belonged to You-Know-Who himself. And finally, last year a highly sort out criminal, Sirius Black, had been able to get into the school without any of the teachers knowing how it came about. All in all, Hogwarts didn't have the right background that Elizabeth's parents thought fit to send their child.

However, the headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, had another opinion altogether. He always sent letters on Elizabeth's birthday in hopes to get her enrolled at Hogwarts. Every year, however, her parents would rip them into shreds and ignore the letters. Sometimes Elizabeth would see one or two of the letters but she would never question them; she knew that her parents were ripping those letters up for a good reason, even if she didn't know what those reasons were.

So, as you can imagine, it came as a very big shock to Elizabeth's parents the day she turned 14 when she came downstairs with a Hogwarts enrolment letter in her hand and a look that screamed bloody murder sketched all over her face. Elizabeth was usually always calm and collective when it came to situations but this situation obviously was the last straw.

"How could you have kept something like this from me!?" She asked, the letter screwed up in her hand tightly.

"Darling, you don't know what dangers lay at that school. We've heard nothing but bad things about it and we don't want to put you in danger." Her Father tried to soothe her, "How did you end up getting that letter?"

"A bloody owl was rapping at my window to get my attention and when I opened my window it dropped this on my bed! Owls at daylight! Well, at least it wasn't the shock that I got when I opened up this letter. I'm a witch now! No wonder why all the kids stayed away from me at school when I couldn't explain why I could make objects move and accidently hurt people without touching them." Elizabeth rambled on, growing angrier with every sentence.

"We were going to explain to you, love, but we didn't want to scare you. We were going to wait until you were 18 to let you know so that you could decide for yourself whether or not you would want to be part of that world." Her Mother explained to her.

"This isn't an election, Mum! It's who I am. You can't just decide to keep these things away from me and expect me to be able to choose between what I have been all my life to what I truly am. I'm sorry, but that is just plain stupidity." Elizabeth suddenly stopped, aware of what she had just said.

"It's quite alright, dear. We knew that you would be mad with us when you eventually found out and I understand your logic on this situation. Let us just explain the reasons why we kept this information from you." Her Mother said, looking at Elizabeth expectantly.

It took awhile for Elizabeth to regain her self control but in the end she nodded and sat down in her favourite comfy armchair next to the fire place. Her parents explained the back history of the school and the events that had been going on in the previous years and how people like themselves had been affected by the events.

"You see, honey, the reasons why we don't want you to go are valid. We're not saying that we hate wizards and witches because we know that there are great ones out there but with the events that are happening and the fact that people like us are being affected by them we feel that the magical community is becoming even more powerful and dangerous than the last time that magical events affected people like us." Her Mother explained, smiling sadly at the memories.

"What other events?" Elizabeth asked keenly, trying to learn everything about this new world that she had never known.

"You'll learn about those soon enough. We don't want to bear you with too much information." Her Father told her hurriedly, looking at her Mother with pleading eyes.

"Why can't I be told? I'll be going into that world with no knowledge of what has happened before and people will think I'm an idiot for not knowing about their past." Elizabeth whined.

"No you won't. Even Harry Potter didn't know what his past was until he got told he was the most famous wizard of the century." Her Mother smiled at her.

"Harry Potter? Who's he?" Elizabeth asked, intrigued by the name.

"Mary, I don't think we should go into the past of Harry Potter. Elizabeth will be wondering how we know this much stuff about the magical community without talking about him. In fact, I'm wondering why she hasn't asked that exact question." Her Father enquired, looking at Elizabeth curiously.

"Well, sorry, but I've just been too immersed in the information that you've been telling me about a world I don't know to wonder how exactly you know about it but now that you've put that into context; how do you know about this world if you're not magical yourselves?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, you're great-grandmother on your Mother's side was a witch and their family was intent that her child, your grandmother would be a witch too but, unfortunately, she became a squib. A squib is someone who is a wizard or witch but they have no use of their magical powers. Needless to say your grandmother's family was very disappointed in her and then the expectation came down onto your Mother. However, she turned out to be a muggle; a non-magical person. We thought that all the magic had gone out of the family until you came into the world. It took us a few months to figure out if you were a witch or not but when strange things started happening around the house such as when things kept going inexplicably missing then we knew straight away that you were a witch." Her Father smiled at her.

"So you're happy about me being a witch but you're not happy with me going to school?" Elizabeth questioned him.

"You must have understood our reasoning, Elizabeth. That school is dangerous but if you want to go and you know the consequences of going then we'll let you go in September." Her Father sighed, feeling defeated.

"Of course I want to go. It's where I belong and where I always will belong." Elizabeth said, defiantly.

Her Father looked over to her Mother and her Mother nodded while saying to Elizabeth, "Well, if you're sure dear then you best send that letter back with your answer. Just put it on the leg of the owl that sent it to you and it will go straight back to Hogwarts."

As Elizabeth went upstairs to complete that task she couldn't help but thinking that Hogwarts was a very strange name to call a school.


	2. The Weasleys

**The Years that Passed**

Chapter 2

The weeks that followed after Elizabeth had been told the news about her new identity were her hardest of her life. She hated waiting for things and now she had to wait for the new life that waited for her on September 1st. However, weeks turned to days and on the second to last day her parents came to her with some new news.

"Elizabeth, darling, we've come to a decision on how to get your school supplies." Her Mother said, smiling at her.

"We have to buy my school supplies!? Do we have enough money?" Elizabeth asked, worriedly.

"Of course, don't worry about that. Your Great-Grandmother left some of her money in case their was any witch in the family in the future. We were planning that you went with the Weasley family to get your shopping done since it would be less of a hassle if we came." Her Mother explained.

"Who are the Weasley's?" Elizabeth asked, curiously.

"The Weasleys are old friends of ours. We haven't seen them that much since you were born since we wanted to keep the magical world secret from you but we did meet up once or twice. They're extremely kind and warming family. I'm sure you'll prefer them to us; you won't want to come back." Her Father joked, smirking at her.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at him but kept quite; lost in thought. Her brain wheeled with the information that she had just been told. She was going to a strange family that she had never known about but, then again, her parents did seem confident that she would like them. At the end of the mini argument within her head she concluded that she would trust her parents and go to this see who this Weasley family was.

Her parents told her that the Weasley family would arrive at her house at 11am. So at 10.45am Elizabeth went downstairs and waited with her family for the Weasley's to arrive. While she was waiting, Elizabeth became extremely nervous about what this family would think of her. It was extremely strange since Elizabeth was usually a very confident person and didn't really care what people thought about her. 11am came and went and by 11.30am Elizabeth started asking her parents how long it would take the Weasley's to get to their place. Her Mother looked at her Father with a worried look while her Father just said,

"Well, I did get told by Mr. Weasley that they were picking someone by the name of Harry Potter up beforehand so they might have been held back because of it."

Elizabeth sighed and waited and after another 20 minutes of waiting she heard a loud bang from the fireplace. She glanced anxiously at her parents again and decided to stay away of the fireplace before anything could happen.

"Oh bother, they have another one of those electric fire thingys. What are they called again Harry?" A muffled voice called from behind the fireplace.

"It's an electrical fireplace, Mr Weasley. Just like the one at my place. However, maybe you should use a softer spell than the one you used to blow up my living room." The voice that must have been the famous Harry Potter's said, with trouble that was.

"Gentleman, may I recommend my services in unplugging the electrical fireplace and moving it aside before you decide to blow up my living room? It would be greatly appreciated by my family if you didn't damage any of our objects that we own." My Father said, chuckling at Mr. Weasley.

"Ah, Charlie dear boy. Great to see- er, hear from you. Yes, you better move this object before we do any serious damage to it or anything else in your possession." Mr. Weasley agreed.

My Father smirked at the voice while he went over with my Mother and switched off the plug and unplugged the fire. Both my Mother and Father lifted the ends of the fireplace and quickly moved it to the opposite end of the room. It was a good thing that they moved it quickly as 5 bodies came tumbling out of the fireplace. It was a good thing that Elizabeth knew about magic or else she wouldn't have believed what she just witnessed. The men that stood in front of her began to stand up and look around at their surroundings. While they were doing this Elizabeth was able to get a good look at them; the one in front must be the oldest one and possibly a Father figure. He had ruffled ginger hair and a face that seemed to have experience a lot. He wore glasses that were slightly askew at the moment. His dress sense was a bit unuasal; it was as if he was trying to fit in too hard. The younger boys with him, however, seemed to have a better sense of dress. Three of them had ginger hair and the other had pitch black hair. Two of them were also twins which Elizabeth internally groaned; it was going to be so hard to tell them apart. The black haired one didn't seem to have the features of the others so Elizabeth assumed that he must be the famous Harry Potter that her parents had told her about.

"Not changed a bit since Molly and I's last visit. I thought you'd have redecorated by now Charlie boy." The older guest said, grinning.

"We haven't had time for that since having Elizabeth and all." My Father said, gesturing towards me as of a way of introduction.

"Ah, you must be Elizabeth! Let me introduce myself and family and friends. I am Arthur Weasley. This is Ronald Weasley, but don't worry you can just call him Ron." Mr. Weasley smiled, pointing me to one of the youngest boys in the room.

"Hi." I said, shyly.

"Hi. Hope we didn't shock you with our abrupt arrival." Ron chuckled, completely at ease.

"It shocked me a bit but then I did remind myself that you're from the magical community and it didn't shock me so much then." Elizabeth rambled, and then shut up feeling embarrassed.

Ron grinned. "Well, I'm glad we didn't scare you too much."

"Ron, leave her alone. Anyway, now you've met my youngest son you can meet two of my eldest. These two here are Fred & George; good luck with telling them apart." Mr. Weasley said, grinning.

"Thanks for that encouragement, Mr. Weasley." Elizabeth said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I think we're going to like you." One of the twins, Elizabeth couldn't tell you which, said and winked at her.

Mr. Weasley rolled his eyes before saying, "And this is the famous Harry Potter."

The boy with jet black hair smiled and came to shake Elizabeth, "Hey there. Don't worry about them you'll get used to them. Hopefully we'll get on well."

Elizabeth smiled but didn't say anything since she felt too shy to.

"Well, maybe you would like to say goodbye to your parents since it's a long time until you see them again." Mr. Weasley said, smiling.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow, "What do you mean by that, Mr. Weasley?"

"Oh, Elizabeth, we forgot to mention that Hogwarts is a boarding school. You won't be seeing us until Christmas." Her Mother explained, looking at Elizabeth with a concerned look.

A sudden wave of panic came over Elizabeth but it went away as soon as it came. Elizabeth tried to think rationally and clearly; even if Hogwarts was a boarding school it won't be so bad. Maybe it's what she needed after all to have some time away from home to try and become more independent, even if she was only 14. These thoughts seemed to help Elizabeth feel less stressed about the situation that she had been put in. She put on a brave face and smiled at her Mother,

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Mother. To be honest, it'll probably be what I need; some time away from home."

Her Mother smiled back at her but there was still worry in her eyes. Her Father moved near to her Mother and patted on her shoulder comfortingly before making his way over to Elizabeth. He embraced her and murmured,

"Make us proud, Liz. Your great-grandmother would have been proud to know that there was a witch in our family and that she was off to Hogwarts. She went to Hogwarts herself, actually."

"Father, this isn't the time to be talking about the family history. Don't worry, I'll make everyone proud." Elizabeth replied, giving her Father one last tight squeeze before she moved onto her Mother.

"Elizabeth, dear, I'm so sorry for not warning you." Her Mother said, while embracing her.

"It's not a problem, Mother. Anyway, you do know that I enjoy surprises. I'm sure I'll be fine and that I'll be sad to come home." Elizabeth said, cheekily.

Her Mother just nodded in reply and then let go of her. Elizabeth looked around at her family and suddenly felt like she didn't want to go to the boarding school anymore. It meant that she would have to leave home and live with a bunch of strangers. It took all of her courage to make her mind up about going to Hogwarts but, in the end, she looked at her parents and said,

"Don't worry about me. It will do me good to spend some time away from you and to get to know knew people. I'll write to you every Saturday, I promise. You know I keep my promises."

Her parents nodded and Elizabeth stood next to the Weasley's.

"Right, well since the goodbye's have been said we'll start with transporting you back to the Burrow." Mr. Weasley said, after there was a long pause between Elizabeth and her parents.

"The Burrow?" Elizabeth asked, looking at Mr. Weasley.

"It's our home. It's a bit different than yours but I'm sure you'll feel right at home even though you'll only be staying for one night." Mr. Weasley chuckled.

"How do you get to your said abode then?" Elizabeth asked cheekily, grinning.

"Well, can you please just step into the fireplace?" Mr. Weasley asked, gesturing at the fireplace.

"What? Why am I going in there?" Elizabeth asked, eyeing the fireplace nervously.

"Don't worry, there's nothing to worry about." Mr. Weasley assured her, smiling.

"Yeah there's nothing to worry about apart from the fact you might feel sick and dizzy and also there's a chance you may end up in the wrong fireplace." Harry chuckled, but stopping remembering how nervous he was when he first used Floo Powder when he was 12.

Elizabeth anxiously stepped into the fireplace and awaited orders from Mr. Weasley. She tried not to think about what Harry had just said and instead focused on her parents who were staring intently at her.

"Don't fret her like that Harry. You'll be fine, just stand still with your arms straight. When you drop the floo powder make sure you clearly say 'The Burrow'." Mr. Weasley explained.

"Right, let's get this over and done with then." I said, wanting this whole ordeal to be over.

"Good luck, hunny." My Mother said, smiling with tears in her eyes.

"We'll see you in a few months." My Father said, also smiling.

I nodded in their direction as I picked up some powder and made myself stand as straight as possible.

"Remember, speak nice and clearly." Mr. Weasley reminded me.

"Good luck." Harry said, smirking.

"The Burrow!" I half said, half shouted.

I let the powder fall into the grate and the fireplace turned into green flames and then it vanished.


	3. Receiving Letters & Diagon Alley

**Hello guys! I hope you're all well. I would like to thank EmeraldStorm7 for her lovely reviews. Please comment on my writing style since that's what I want to improve on with this story. I'm doing a night writing course and it's something I want to do as part of my degree next year so any constructive comments are welcome. Enjoy the story. :) **

**Chapter 3 – Receiving Letters & Diagon Alley**

Harry's description of the feeling of traveling by Floo Powder was pretty much on point, Elizabeth thought as she whizzed past what seemed like different people's living rooms. The only thing that Harry had forgotten to mention was the incredibly fast speed that Elizabeth was now feeling and she couldn't help but think that she would end up in the wrong fireplace; whatever that meant. _Keep calm, _she told herself, _no harm can come to you_.

She kept telling herself this while she was falling down for what felt like eternity. After a long while she was wondering to herself if she had missed The Burrow and she was going to keep falling down. This made her feel panicky but before a full blown panic attack could happen she tumbled out of a fireplace. Whatever talking had now stopped and Elizabeth saw a kindly face in front of her.

"Hello, dear, welcome to the Burrow. I'm guessing you're Elizabeth?" A plump, kindly looking woman asked, giving Elizabeth her hand and helping her up.

"Yes." Elizabeth answered, since that was the only word that she could muster up right now while looking around the room that she was in.

The room that she was in looked well lived in. There were clothes such as jumpers and coats strewn over the living room couches, dishes were pilled up in the sink and there was food waiting to be eaten all over the table. However, these were mundane things that Elizabeth was seeing; the things that really got her attention were controlled by magic. There was a grandfather clock at one side of the room but it was no normal clock; instead of numbers there were quotes saying 'Late' or 'Missing' and there were 9 clock hands with the faces of the members of the Weasley family pointing to where they were. Mr. Weasley's hand was pointing to 'Missing'. Elizabeth looked back at the sink where she saw that there was some magic cleaning going on without anyone being near the sink.

"This must all be a bit of a shock for you but don't worry you'll settle right in. I'm Mrs. Weasley and these are my sons Percy, Charlie and Bill and this is my daughter Ginny." Mrs Weasley smiled.

Elizabeth looked over at the people who Mrs Weasley was pointing to trying to remember all of their names. The one named Bill looked like a very laid back guy with long hair that was drawn back into a ponytail. He had a earing that looked like a dragon claw and he was dressed extremely casually; jeans and t-shirt. Charlie, who was next to Bill, had messy hair that looked like Harry's but obviously matched his families flaming red hair. He was well built and looked like he may have played some kind of sport. As Elizabeth looked around the room she spotted two girls; one had the red hair which Elizabeth guessed she was a Weasley and the other had bushy brown hair which made Elizabeth wonder if she was a family friend.

Before she could wonder anymore Elizabeth heard a loud bang and suddenly turned around to the fireplace. Mr. Weasley was laid in a heap on the ground with soot all over his face and clothes. Elizabeth worried for a second whether he was okay or not but before she could ask him he was starting to get up. Out of the fireplace next came the twins; one following after the other. Then it was Ron and finally it was Harry who lastly came tumbling down.

"Your parents wanted to chat to me for a few minutes. They asked me how life was; it was as if we had been friends for ages even though I had only met them a few minutes ago." Harry said, smirking at me.

"Sorry about them. They mentioned you when they told me that I was a witch so they must have just wanted to know what was happening in the magical community, that's all." Elizabeth said, feeling the need to defend her parents for some reason.

"Don't worry about it. I enjoyed talking to them; they're nice people. Way better than my uncle and aunt." He added, darkly.

"Elizabeth, have you met everyone yet?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I know all your sons and daughter but I don't know this girl here. " Elizabeth answered, pointing to the bushy brown haired girl.

"Hello, I'm Hermoine Granger. I'm best friends with Harry and Ron. I hope you settle in here quickly. I'm sure you will; it quickly becomes to feel like home after a while." The girl name Hermione smiled.

Elizabeth smiled back but before she could answer back someone from what seemed to be the staircase called down.

"Bill, I'm having zee trouble with cleaning this room. Would you come and help me please?" A thick French female accent called.

"Sorry about that. That's my girlfriend, Fluer. She's been staying over for the summer because of the Tiwizard Tournament happening at Hogwarts this year." Bill said, smirking.

"Why can't you tell us about the tournament, Bill?" One of the twins moaned.

"Yeah, we'll be finding out anyway when we go back to Hogwarts. Wouldn't it be easier just to tell us now?" The other twin asked.

"Don't you want this tournament thing to be a surprise?" Elizabeth asked them, cheekily, feeling a bit bold for doing so.

The twins glared at her and then sulked off not glancing back. Mrs. Weasley sighed and hurried off to cook some lunch.

"They'll pull round. It's been a bit of turmoil lately with everything that happened at the Quidditch World Cup and now there's this tournament the twins are going to get anxious about wanting to know everything about it." Bill said, smiling at me.

"I'm guessing you're not going to tell them a single thing, are you?" Elizabeth said, chuckling at the thought of the twins behaviour.

"Not a word." Bill said, smirking.

"I'm glad you aren't, Bill. Fred and George know that the tournament is classified information and although there are 4 members in this room that have that information we are not allowed to utter a single word of what will happen to anyone of our family or acquaintances and I'm afraid that means you too Elizabeth." The boy named Percy said, nodding in my direction.

"Oh, come on Percy. Stop pretending that you have a stick up your arse and go and help Mum with lunch or something." The boy named Charlie said, grinning.

"I've got a letter to write. I'll be down shortly after that." Percy said, heading in the direction to where the twins had gone.

"Have I got the plague or something?" Elizabeth joked.

"Don't worry, you can help us in the kitchen if you want to?" Ron asked, smiling.

"Ron, she's our guest. Let her have some rest. I bet it's been extremely tiring having to experience strange new things all at once. Have a seat Elizabeth, dear. What would you like to eat?" Mrs. Weasley said, while busying herself in the kitchen.

"Erm, I wouldn't mind some tomato soup and ham sandwich. Not anything fancy." Elizabeth replied, smiling.

Nothing fancy wasn't a term that Mrs. Weasley understood apparently.

"Ron, would you just peel and chop those tomatoes for me? Harry, would you just get the bread, butter and ham out of the pantry and make Elizabeth two sandwiches please?" Mrs Weasley asked both Ron and Harry as she got a large cooking pot and put a lot of cold water in it and set it on the cooker and turned it onto boil while Ron started with the tomatoes and Harry with the sandwiches. It was odd for Elizabeth to be waited on like this but it was also a nice feeling too. The day did suddenly make her feel exhausted and just sitting there was enough to make her feel sleepy.

"Don't fall asleep now or Mum won't thank you for not being able to try her home made soup." Charlie said, grinning at her.

"Charlie, stop pestering the poor girl. If she's too tired to eat then she can go upstairs and nap before we go to Diagon Alley this afternoon." Mrs Weasley said, glaring quickly at her son before turning her attention back to her cooking.

"I didn't mean for you to home cook me anything Mrs Weasley. Just some tinned soup would have been fine." Elizabeth said, quickly.

"That won't do for Mum. Your undernourished so you need some proper home made food that will take an hour to make." Charlie said, chuckling. Elizabeth knew he was one of the jokesters in the family.

Mr Weasley came to sit at the table. Elizabeth couldn't see Bill so she supposed that he had gone up to help Fleur. Ginny and Hermione came over and helped Mrs Weasley by setting the table while the lunch was being made.

"So I don't know everyone's age yet. Would be nice to know a little more about you all." Elizabeth said, smiling.

"I'm the youngest at 13, then Harry, Ron and Hermione are the next oldest at 14. Fred and George are 16, Percy is 18 and Charlie and Bill are 21." Ginny said, talking to Elizabeth for the first time.

"I'll try and remember all of that." Elizabeth said, chuckling.

After an hour of delicious smells from the kitchen Elizabeth was served the most gorgeous looking home made soup she'd ever seen. She took no time in devouring her meal. Before Elizabeth had finished her meal she heard a small thud and Mrs Weasley asking one of the twins to fetch the owl. Elizabeth must have been too consumed with her meal to notice that there had been more additions to the kitchen table.

"There are our Hogwarts letters. Here's one for you, Elizabeth. Dumbledore always knows where everyone is." One of the twins, Elizabeth thought that it might have been George, handed her letter to her with a smile.

The letter that was in her hands looked like a very old letter indeed. It had a yellowed envelope and when Elizabeth turned the envelope round she could she that there was a red wax seal on the opening of the letter. Elizabeth had never seen a letter like this before; she thought that they would have become extinct by now. The wax seal seemed to have a school embalm on it which had a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle. Elizabeth wondered what they meant but she didn't ask because she wanted to know what the letter said. She opened the letter and pulled it out.

_Dear Miss E Taylor, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and will start on the date of September 1__st__. However, we have noted down your absence from our school since you are the age of 14 and not the age that usually students at our school start at which is 11. You will report to Professor McGonagall after the feast to discuss this further. _

_Please see attached the list of school supplies that you will need for the school year._

_Yours Sincerely, _

_Professor M McGonagall _

Elizabeth immediately pulled out the other piece of paper that came with her letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform

_First year students will require: _

_Three sets of plain work robes (black) _

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear _

_One pair of protected gloves (dragon hide or similar) _

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) _

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags _

Set Books

_All students should have a copy of each of the following: _

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self -Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) _

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope _

_1 set brass scales _

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad _

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"So since I'm not a first year can I buy my own broomstick?" Elizabeth asked, smiling cheekily in the direction of Mrs Weasley.

"Well, if you want to play Quidditch of course you can." Mrs Weasley said.

Elizabeth sighed; she was going to have to learn a lot about this world.

After everything had been cleared from the kitchen table Mr and Mrs Weasley led their children, Harry, Hermione and Elizabeth to the living room and took the floo powder from its place.

"I'm afraid, dear, that you'll have to travel by floo powder again. It's the cheapest and safest way to travel you see." Mrs Weasley said, smiling kindly at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth nodded politely. "Is it ok if a couple of you go first before I go? Just so I know I'm in the right place when I get there."

"Of course, dear. I'll get my boys to go first." Mrs Weasley said.

It was then that Elizabeth noticed that Bill, Charlie and Percy weren't in the room with them.

"Where are the others?" Elizabeth said, knowing that they all knew who she meant.

"Bill, Charlie and Percy have left Hogwarts so there just taking the afternoon to themselves." Mr Weasley explained.

Elizabeth wondered for a little bit what wizards and witches did after school but she didn't wonder long since Harry had stepped into the fireplace and was just about to go. She watched him intently so that she could get it right when it was her turn.

"Diagon Alley!" Harry shouted, and disappeared when he let go of the floo powder.

When the green flames died down it was Ron's turn, after him came Fred and then George. After they had all gone Mrs Weasley turned to Elizabeth and said,

"You should be alright now, dear. You'll know where you are when you get there."

Elizabeth couldn't stop putting it off any longer so she took some floo powder and stepped inside the fireplace. She took a deep breath and shouted before she let go of the floo powder,

"Diagon Alley!"

The feeling of sickness overtook her again. She felt like she was spinning out of control and her dizziness was nothing like she'd experienced before. This lasted for what seemed like a few minutes, although it was probably only a few seconds, when she came tumbling out of a fireplace and onto the ground.

"Good thing you didn't come out of the wrong fireplace." One of the twins, she thought it was Fred, joked.

"Leave her be, Fred. Remember what you were like when you first used Floo Powder." George said, chuckling at his brother's memory.

Fred glared at his brother as he reached out a hand for Elizabeth, which she accepted.

"Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron." George said, smiling.

The Leaky Cauldron was a dark, dull and dusty pub. There were tables and chairs everywhere and not a lot of people sitting in them. A few people were on bar stools at the bar while talking to one another or the barman. Overall, even though it may not have looked very friendly Elizabeth found it an oddly comforting place.

"Huh." Was all she could say.

"You'll get used to the atmosphere and people here. We're only just passing through today; we'll be going back to the Burrow tonight. We stayed here last year and it was actually pretty cool." Ron said, grinning.

There came another thud and Mr Weasley came tumbling out. In the next few minutes Mrs Weasley, Ginny and Hermione all made their way into The Leaky Cauldron over the next few minutes. When everyone was up on their feet and ready to get going again they went out into a courtyard of The Leaky Cauldron. It was a squeeze but everyone was able to get outside.

"Do you remember the pattern of the bricks, Arthur?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Of course." Mr Weasley answered, while getting something out of his pocket.

Elizabeth tried to get a glimpse of what Mr Weasley was doing but he did whatever he did so quickly it went by in a blur. The next thing she saw was the brick wall folding in on itself to make an archway into a narrow street. The site that Elizabeth saw made her eyes widen in shock.

**P.S. I've just realised that I've basically re-written the letter scene twice. I may come back and re-edit that sometime in the future when I've completed this fic but right now you can chose which one you think is better. Tell me in the comments so I know which one to delete in the future. :) **


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